A Collection of Avatar Drabbles
by TEi Has Pants
Summary: Chapter three up: Toph and Aang talk about romantic blindness, told in the present tense. More to come if I get the urge.
1. Heartrate

**Title:** _Heartrate_

**Fandom:** Avatar: The Last Airbender

**Word Count:** 465

**Rating:** PG, fantasy violence-ish.

**Timeline:** Following Book 2's conclusion.

**Pairing:** Implied Sokka/Toph and Sokka/Suki

**Summary:** Toph's always been able to tell when people are lying. Introspective, from Toph's POV.

**Disclaimer:** I don't own Avatar. I'm kinda glad I don't because I'd fuck it all up!

---

He's worried about a lot of things. Aang predominantly; he doesn't have a problem admitting this. I don't blame him. I'm concerned for Twinkletoes, too. According to Katara, he took a lightning blast to the back during the Avatar State--and from what I've heard, that's definitely bad news. We don't know how that'll affect Aang, since he's been asleep for the past few days.

He's worried about Katara, but not much more than usual. Older brother stuff. He's even a little worried about Iroh, who had stayed behind in Ba Sing Se in order to let Katara and Aang escape from Azula and Zuko.

Those are all the subjects we covered. Sokka's a brave kid--strong, for someone without Bending powers. As we talk, his voice--youthful in sound only, as there's an older, more experienced and war-weary edge to it--fills the air. He's not complaining for once. We're both sitting on the same boulder, with a river burbling away nearby. Judging by the way the earth bowed before us, curved into a deep, long trench that went on further than my Earthbending could tell me, the shore can only be a few feet away at most.

I don't "see" like most people can. I was born blind. But that's more of a blessing than anything else; it's allowed me to hone my Earthbending powers to levels nobody else can meet. My 'sight' is something Sokka once called tremor sense, being able to sense movement through vibrations in the ground. It also lets me sense a person's heartrate and breathing, if I'm close enough to them. I can tell when they're lying because their pulse gets faster and their breath comes out shorter.

Sokka's lying to me right now.

I'd asked him about Suki--the leader of the Kyoshi Warriors. She was a nice girl, very brave. She saved me from drowning once. Azula invaded Ba Sing Se with her friends wearing the robes and makeup of the Kyoshi Warriors, leading us to suspect they had ambushed Suki and the others. And while Sokka brushed off his concern--said Suki was strong, capable of taking care of himself--his heartrate told a completely different story.

Sometimes, the really girly part about me--the one that nobody really sees--wishes he'd care about me like that. Sometimes I want to just hold him and tell him how I feel, and maybe get a little reciprocation. But it's just not my style; when the people who know me look at Toph Beifong, they expect the tough exterior and a tomboyish, rule-breaking, tradition-hating Earthbending Master. That's my real face. And I want Sokka to like me--to care for me--for who I am.The girly side of me, that's my deception. That's where my heartrate changes.


	2. By the Seashore

**Title:** By the Seashore

**Fandoms:** Avatar: The Last Airbender, Peter Pan

**Word Count:** 603

**Rating:** PG-13, for cusses and talking about cross-dressing

**Timeline:** After Book 2, but that's only for character involved.

**Summary:** The Avatar cast is putting on a showing of Peter Pan. Very very much AU, since Zhao and Jet are still alive.

**Author's Note:** Inspiration comes from Rufftoon's demi-AU Avatar comics.

**Disclaimer:** I don't own Avatar, wonk wonk wonk.

---

"UNCLE! I need a word with you!"

Iroh didn't look up from the ream of paper he held in one hand, the other running down his long, gray beard. Zuko marched at him from the dressing rooms, a scowl on his face, his yellow eyes burning.

"Not now, nephew," Iroh said, waving a dismissive hand. "There's much to be completed on the show! The work of a playwrite and director is never done."

"But Uncle, I--"

"_Whaaat_?" The question came out grating and low.

"I have a serious problem with the casting situation." Zuko took a deep breath, his teeth clenched. He held up a sheet of charred paper, his shoulders bunching up. "I want you to tell me your logic behind why I was cast in _this_ role, in particular."

"Oh, is that all?" Iroh's brow furrowed. "Very well. I assume you wanted to be Captain Hook--the opposite of Aang's Peter Pan, correct?"

"_Yes_."

"Unfortunately, your sister, Azula, makes a much more ruthless Captain Hook than you do, nephew." Iroh kept an even face, but noticed the air around Zuko growing considerably hotter. "Admiral Zhao took a close second to her, but has to settle for being the Indian Chief."

"But--"

"With Aang as Peter Pan, the logical choices thereafter were to put his travel companions as Peter's closest friends. That darling Waterbender--Katara--makes the perfect Wendy, with Sokka as John and Toph as Michael. And yes, I know, Toph is a girl...but her tomboyish appearance makes it a nice fit, wouldn't you agree?"

"Uncle, I--"

"Peter's Lost Boys also had natural counterparts in Jet and his Freedom Fighters." Iroh shook his head. "The Cabbage Salesman is Mr. Smee, and those pirates we had a brush with earlier this year have volunteered as part of Captain Hook's crew. The Avatar's sky bison is our Crocodile."

"But Uncle--could I at least have been Rufio? You know--my voice actor kind of _plays_ him in _Hook_?"

"Nephew." Iroh's voice took a scolding tone. "We are not going to use characters that are not in the _original_ _Peter Pan_."

"Then isn't there room somewhere else? I don't care about Azula or Zhao or whoever--just _change. My. Part_!"

"Prince Zuko, I'm sorry that you feel this way...but think of it positively! You will be surrounded by pretty ladies on all sides...Princess Yue...Suki and the Kyoshi Warriors...that wonderful bounty hunter, June...not to mention Gin and Song, whom I recall you have had romantic encounters with."

Zuko was positively _seething_ by this point. "That. Is. No. Excuse."

"I'm afraid it's either that, or I cast you as Peter Pan's former love interest..."

"But--there wasn't one of _those_ in the original _Peter Pan_!"

"My play...my rules."

"Ffffffff--"

"Ah, before you drop that bomb, young Prince, the performance begins shortly. You must get into your costume."

Zuko glared at Iroh, shoulders riising and falling, and for a moment Iroh thought his son would lash out--but then he spun on a heel and stalked off back towards the dressing rooms without a sound.

"He ain't happy, is he?" A voice to Iroh's left said. The older man turned to see Toph, holding Momo like a teddy bear under the crook of an arm, a smug smirk on the blind girl's face.

"No, he very much isn't." Iroh allowed himself a humble grin. "But that is his punishment for betraying me to Azula in Ba Sing Se. I'm sure he'll learn to like being one of the mermaids with enough time."

"Yeah, but that seashell bra is gonna be a bitch."


	3. Back to Work

**Title:** _Back to Work_

**Fandom:** Avatar: The Last Airbender

**Rating:** PG

**Word Count:** 611

**Pairing:** Sokka/Suki, Sokka/Toph and Aang/Katara—all implied

**Timeline:** I'm not sure here. I'd say after Book 2 draws to a close, but since I have no idea what's going on there, I'm leavin' it open-ended.

**Summary:** Aang has a sneaking suspicion about Toph. Told in the present tense, because I feel like it. It ties into Chapter 1.

---

"You've got a thing for him, don't you?"

The question comes out light and casual, despite the rigorous nature of their training. Still, Aang's mind remains focused; the small talk comes from a corner of his mind he's got isolated, and for a moment he wonders how it managed to squeeze past the barricades. He's used to talking with Katara while they trained, but Katara's teaching style is different. With her, it's okay to chat. With Toph, it's not usually the case.

Toph sets her face into a light scowl, her brow furrowing beneath her unruly black bangs. "I dunno what you're talking about, Twinkletoes. _Rockeye_!"

Aang ducks down low and scoops up a rock slab, using it as a shield against the melon-sized boulder Toph throws at him. He does this in one fluid motion--incorporating a little bit of Waterbending style in with the move. After a moment, he decides to pursue the topic, knowing that Toph could benifit from a little opening up. "You know very well what I'm talking about."

"Okay, so I do. I still don't wanna talk about it. Lemme see your full-body rock armor, I think it has a few chinks in the armor."

Aang lets the rock slab fall. He crouches down with his arms spread out, his fingers splayed and the tips touching the ground. With a quick, swirling motion that's part Airbending, he rises to his feet and surrounds his entire body (except for his eyes, which he leaves open) with fragments of stone, making a bodysuit of pure earth that he can manipulate around him. Toph walks up to him and thrusts one hand forward; Aang braces himself, and the impact of her palm on his chest doesn't push him back.

"You know I won't tell him about it." Aang resists the urge to cross his arms over his chest. "It might do you some good to let it all out."

Toph tilts her head to the side. It looks like she's considering--and finally decides to ignore the provocation. "Straighten your back a little bit. If someone gets a good hit in on you from behind, you'd have a massive hole in the armor."

"It's funny you mention chinks and holes in armor. Yours is pretty tough."

She grins. "I know."

"But, seriously...don't you want to at least let him know...?"

Toph takes a deep breath--sighs, takes another--and shakes her head. "No. He's too worried about Suki. I'd...feel like I were taking advantage of him. I don't want to do that."

Aang lets out a low breath, but straightens his back at the same time, reinforcing the armor. "I can see why."

"Listen, Twinkletoes...I'm lucky enough to have gotten outta my home and travelled with you. So I'm not gonna try to overreach, you know?" She stands diagonal to him, her head hung low. There's a smile on her face, and while her bangs hid her eyes and obscured the big picture, Aang hears only a pinch of sadness in her tone. "I'm patient. That's why you said I'd make a great Earthbending teacher, back when we first met--and if, in the long run, Sokka doesn't choose me...well, that's life, right?"

Aang is smiling too, now, but his eyes sting and his vision blurs. The rock armor falls away, leaving him exposed. "I know how you feel. Their blindness--it's something Katara and Sokka have in common."

"Heh...ironic." But she laughs. "Those big jerks."

"Yeah."

They're both quiet for a moment, before Toph draws another deep breath. "Okay. Back on track."

"Right. Sorry, _Sifu_ Toph." Aang steels his mind again. _Time to get back to work._


End file.
